Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 346 The Battle of Karen Mountain
Just as Bogaevsky was about to launch a final attack on Humaer City, a part of the Hezhe people from the middle and lower reaches of Heilongjiang and Daur frontier people from the upper reaches of the Huma River gathered to help.

These frontier residents armed with harpoons, bows and arrows, spears and big knives, drove canoes and fast horse boats, like moths to a flame, braved the hail of bullets and roaring artillery fire, and launched an attack on the Raksha invaders.

Standing behind the fence of the small island, Ai Hunzuo led Tibet to see the scene of help coming from all directions. He was very energetic at first, but he became anxious when he saw those Hezhe people going up to meet Luo Cha head-on regardless.

"Let those people go ashore quickly! Quickly! They can't stand up to Rakshasa's artillery and muskets, so they can only die in vain!"

After hearing this, several subordinates and the leaders of the border residents hurried to the bank, stood in the river and shouted loudly.

The sound of guns overshadowed the shouts from the shore, and the Hezhe people tried to get close to the Raksha warship one after another, but the dense rain of bullets caused them to be shot and fell into the river. The canoe made of birch bark could not withstand the ten-pound Iron bullets and dense shot.

It didn't take long for the surviving Hezhe fishermen to row their boats to the small island where the city of Humar was amidst the bullets.When these people climbed to the river bank, only more than 50 people survived.The soldiers and civilians in Humar City had no time to pay homage to those who died in battle. They helped the reinforcements who had climbed up to the bank and entered the city wall to hide.

From this moment on, several fishing boats will come from the south of Heilongjiang from time to time.When there were few people, they moored ashore a few hundred meters away from the Tsarist Russian fleet, waiting for an opportunity to attack;Later, Bogaevsky had to dedicate two warships to deal with these troublesome "barbarians".

At this time, there was a sudden burst of cheers in the city of Humar. The gunpowder and shotgun bullets from Ulu Sumudan finally arrived. Along with the gunpowder, there were actually more than 200 border residents who came from Mulususu.This is undoubtedly a powerful new force for the current Humar City.

Looking at the dozen or so soldiers who were out of breath, Tibet asked eagerly, "What happened on the road?"

Zuo Ling, who led the team, said: "My lord, there is not enough gunpowder in Ulu Sumudan, so I took people to Karen and several villages in the south to search for it, and finally I got this little."

After all, he struggled to pick up a set of items wrapped in sapphire blue furoshiki from the carriage, and when Tibet opened it, it turned out to be a set of golden yellow chain mail that only a deputy governor could wear.

Nazuo said: "My lord, this is sent to you by someone sent by the vice-dutong. I just met them in Gobugar, so I took it for my lord. There is a letter in the package, and there is also a letter in this box." There are 2000 taels of silver."

Hearing this, Tibet hurriedly opened the bag, took out the letter and read it, without saying a word.

In this letter, in order to encourage Tibet, Eredombu, the deputy governor of Heilongjiang City, gave his own armor as a reward, and stated that he would ask the court for merit for Tibet and his soldiers and civilians in the future, and reward his descendants.Eledombu told Tibet that, according to the news from General Evergrande, thousands of reinforcements from Hulun Buir had crossed the Teni River and were on their way.The day when the army arrived in Heilongjiang City, it was the time when Raksha gave the head.

Seeing the white silver in the box, Tibet smiled wryly and was speechless.He doesn't even intend to take his life, so what's the use of this money?

Taking advantage of the time when Rakshasa stopped shelling, Tibet in chain mail pointed to the silver in the box and said loudly to his subordinates: "Here is 2000 taels of silver. I don't take any money. I will distribute it to everyone. 50 taels!"

Neither the soldiers nor the border residents have seen so much money, and most of their daily use is to make money.In the beginning, a few people around came to take a few ingots of silver and put them in their pockets, but later Tibet simply let people carry the box and distributed the silver to everyone.

Since it was rewarded by the official, why not take it!
Fifty taels of silver is a huge sum of money to everyone, and it can buy dozens of pieces of cloth, hundreds of catties of grain, and dozens of horses and cattle in Heilongjiang City.
Tibet didn't know what a stupid thing he did, and it didn't take long for him to regret it!
He thought that he didn't take any money, and it was selfless to distribute the money; but he forgot that once people have thoughts, their minds are not so pure.

At 9:30 in the morning, Colonel Bogaevsky, head of the 12st Musketeer Regiment in Transbailkal, issued an attack order to all Tsarist Russian troops participating in the war, requesting that the city of Humar must be completely captured before [-] noon, and after the capture Quickly march to Ulu Sumudan and Gobugar.

The Tsarist Russians were also in a hurry. When 9:30 arrived, the 12-pound guns and 24-pound guns on all the large ships fired together, and the deafening roar scared the border residents who came to support them to turn around and leave.

Rakshasa's firepower is too fierce!The fighting spirit of the soldiers and civilians in Humar City gradually collapsed under the deterrence of the invaders' muskets and cannons.Carrying the silver rewarded by the imperial court, many people carried the wounded back to Humarwoji Mountain.After the shelling was over, Aihui Association leader Tibet found out that there were only 20 people left to fight with him.

When the Cossacks boarded the island by boat and approached the city of Humar, more than 20 Qing troops armed with spears and broadswords, led by Tibetans wearing golden chain mail, launched a final charge against the enemy.

Anyone else can leave, but since Tibet read that letter and put on that chain mail, he can only fight to the death here.

"Aim! Shoot!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

On May 5th in the Gregorian calendar, the Tsarist Russian army arrived at Dongcheng and Mulususu, which were already empty. At this time, they were less than a hundred miles away from Heilongjiang City.

In the 22nd year of Kangxi (1683), after the Qing government quelled the San Francisco Rebellion and recovered Taiwan, it dispatched Ningguta Deputy Commander Sabsu to lead the Qing army to settle in Aihui, and successively built new and old Aihui cities. All the cities are called "Heilongjiang City".

Since the Tsarist Russian army had mastered the Qing army's deployment of Karen troops in the entire Heilongjiang General's Mansion last year, they formulated corresponding military plans based on this information.

On May 5, according to Suvorov's order, Russian Major General Aleksandrov, who led the army from Nerchinsk, will serve as the commander of the attack on Aigun, while the Tsarist Russian Eastern Route Army Commander Colonel Fisher of the staff department was the chief of staff for this offensive operation; Aisin, a Buryat man, was promoted to lieutenant because of his meritorious service. He was transferred to the staff department to assist in his work because he was familiar with the situation in this area.

Facing the heavily defended city of Heilongjiang, the Tsarist Russian army attached great importance to it. The day after they arrived in Dongcheng, they held a military meeting on the largest warship in the fleet.The meeting was attended by Major General Aleksandrov, Chief of Staff Colonel Fischer, Commander of Artillery, the heads of the [-]st to [-]rd Transbaikal Musketeer Regiments, the heads of the [-]st and [-]nd Buryat Regiments, and a small number of acting cavalry units captain of the guard.

会议上，参谋长费舍尔上校代表亚历山德罗夫少将宣读了针对黑龙江城作战的部队配置和攻击命令。这次沙俄的作战部队包括了15个连、48门炮、一个骑兵连，另外由哥萨克中校佩琴金负责指挥207名桨手、80艘小船、5只平底小驳船。

In the small conference room, Tsarist Russian officers in green and red lapel uniforms were crowded, and Fisher, who was opposite, read out the combat order under the light of the candlestick held by his assistant Essin.

"Order: Issued to troops massed outside Heilongjiang City, Eastern Front Staff, May 1788, 5.

6. Our troops should cross the river to the left bank of the Amur River on the night of June 1, repel the enemy from the position of the old city of Aihui, and occupy the old city of Aihui.

[-]. Colonel Shwerin led the Second Regiment to land near the old city of Aigun after Colonel Bogaevsky's column, and then continued to advance in the same direction.After crossing the river, leave a company on the high ground west of the old city of Aigun to observe and cover the rear of the combat troops.

[-]. Lieutenant Colonel Polyakov crossed the river after the column of the [-]nd Musketeer Regiment, swept the enemy a little further up the Zigou, and then followed the right flank of the combat troops.

[-]. Lieutenant Colonel Pechenkin is responsible for the correct allocation of oarsmen and dispatch of riverboats to the left bank, returning to the convoy to continue transporting after landing from the troops.

[-]. The cavalry company crossed the river in the northern part of the old city of Shangaihui at one o'clock in the middle of the night to scout the enemy's deployment. After the scouting, they concentrated on the right wing of the combat troops.

[-]. When Major General Aleksandrov led the reserve troops to land near the old city of Aihui, the artillery commander commanded the artillery of the ships to destroy the enemy artillery set up on the old city of Aihui and the bank of Heilongjiang City, and bombarded Heilongjiang City with artillery fire The gunpowder depot in the old city of Aihui approached the left bank whenever there was an opportunity, waiting for an opportunity to land, and used artillery fire to cut off the enemy's retreat to Qiqihar.

[-]. Pay attention to cover the fleet to avoid sudden attacks by the tribal people and the Qing army."

Major General Aleksandrov, commander of the troops, after Colonel Fisher had read out the operational deployment, concluded to all the officers present at the meeting: "Gentlemen, due to your incompetence, Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief failed to enter Heilongjiang City as planned. The investiture ceremony was held, and his arrival date was changed to June 6. It is unnecessary to say how important our offensive is this time, but please remember that Her Majesty is waiting for news of our victory! Glory to God! May we be invincible!"

On May 5, Ivan Jacobi, the governor of Irkutsk, who had just crossed the border and arrived in Yaksa, could not wait to issue an order that all stone tablets, boundary markers and even Scrape off all the tombstones, and change all the names of mountains, places, and waters along the road that belong to the Qing Dynasty, so that there is no place on the map that has anything to do with the Qing Dynasty!

Suvorov, commander of the Tsarist Russian Eastern Route Army, saw the list of place names drawn up by Ivan Jacoby before departure, and couldn't help but scolded "Bastard!" Even the names of his wife and relatives were listed, and even the last place name was marked with "This is my wife's pug!"

After the reconnaissance of the vanguard of Tsarist Russia, it was found that the Qing army's positions were deployed from the highlands of Karen Mountain to the coast of the old city of Aigun; at the same time, the main force of Heilongjiang City was not concentrated in the city, but concentrated in the woods four or five miles offshore. inside.During the day, there are only guard posts along the defense line along the coast, while at night there are continuous stragglers.

At the same time, the Tsarist Russian General Staff believed that the confluence of the West Bank of Heilongjiang and the Zeya River was the most suitable place to assemble and dispatch troops. There was only a small village with a few households (later Hailan Paotun).Opposite after landing is the mouth of the ravine, where the entire combat force can be assembled.And the Russian army advancing along this ditch can penetrate deep into the enemy's rear and left flank without anyone noticing.

In fact, due to the shortage of troops, the general of the Qing army, Eledimbu, withdrew the Qing army that had been deployed from the old city of Aihui to the Jieya River. A patrol team composed of Zuo Ling; this team can not only provide warning and report, but also protect the left wing of the Qing army's defense line.

And this decision made him regret it!

At three o'clock at midnight on June 6, Bogaevsky's Musketeers landed in small boats, and then launched an attack along the high ground on the left side of the ravine.At four o'clock in the morning, a ten-man patrol team of the Qing army found them, and the two sides immediately exchanged fire. The Qing army, which only had bows and arrows and two shotguns, died not long after the battle. People fled back to report.

At about the same time, just before dawn, the Tsarist Russian fleet sailed past the confluence of the Zeya River and the Heilongjiang River, approaching the old city of Aihui, and the Qing army's artillery on the river bank launched shelling.The flames of shotguns, two-person guns, two-piece blunderbuss, and strange cannons flashed across the river like lightning, and the scene was extremely spectacular; the residents of the old city of Aihui all climbed up to the top of the city and shouted, but then the roaring shells of Rakshasa forced them to go again. They all hid behind the city wall.

The roar of the Qing army's guns was mixed with the rumbling guns of both sides.The 24-pound guns in the Tsarist Russian fleet also opened fire afterwards, and thick columns of smoke soon rose from the Qing army's riverside positions, and the Qing army gunners suffered heavy casualties.Colonel Fisher, chief of staff of the army, estimated based on the firepower of the Qing army's defense line that the Qing army deployed at least 500 people here.

The mutual firing of the Tsarist Russian fleet at the Qing army's gun positions on the river bank diverted the attention of the defending Qing army, and the Tsarist Russian army's landing operation at the river mouth went very smoothly.However, when the general of the Qing army in charge finally found out what was going on, the Qing army had no choice but to step out of the defense line and take the initiative to fight.

At 6:45 in the morning, the Qing army sent out an army composed of 500 cavalry and armored soldiers. They held bows and spears and only carried two cannons; A troop of 15 armored soldiers with bows and arrows on their backs and spears in hand, with ten blunderbusses and two victorious cannons, and 200 cavalrymen surrounded the Russian army in the ravine.

Bogaevsky sent two Cossack artillery companies under his command, carrying six-pounders and eight-pounders, to shell the Qing army. Fifteen minutes later, he directed the four battalions under him to launch an attack.

The ground battle between the Qing army and the Rakshasa started at 7:30 in the morning. The Qing army’s two sub-cannons opened fire about one mile away from the Russian army. After firing one round of solid ammunition and two rounds of shotgun, the shotgun soldiers The platoon of guns began to fire, and the armored soldiers and cavalry were ready to surround the right flank of the Tsarist Russian army.On the left flank of the Russian army, a team of two to three hundred Oroqen hunters, under the cover of the forest, threw arrows at Luocha.

Because the shooting distance of the Qing army's artillery and shotguns was too far, the losses of the Tsarist Russian army were not great.Bogaevsky dispatched a company, which quickly drove the Oroqen away; then he ordered two battalions to attack the right-wing cavalry and armored soldiers, and the rest of the troops launched a general attack on the Qing army directly in front.

Faced with the fierce bombardment of Tsarist Russian muskets and artillery, the Qing army couldn't help but retreat. At first, they were able to shoot back normally. At noon, the Qing army couldn't hold on anymore, and the remaining remnants began to retreat over the mountain towards Aihui.At one o'clock in the afternoon, the Russian army's leading stragglers had already occupied the top of the ravine; two hours later, Lieutenant Colonel Polyakov led the Buryat First and Second Fusiliers Regiment to advance towards the old city of Aigun.

At this time, the Qing army to the north of the old city of Aihui was almost completely wiped out by the Tsarist Russian army. Eredombu, the deputy governor of Heilongjiang City, was shot and wounded and fled back to the city.

As for the artillery battle on the Heilongjiang River, since Tsarist Russia's warships were all inland river ships, there was no gun deck, and all artillery were placed at the bow and midship.As a result, in the artillery battle in the morning, the gunners of the Qing army in the old city of Aihui fired 12 shells into the river with two soaring cannons, destroying two 12-pound guns and one 24-pound gun in the Russian fleet on the spot. After that, 20 Cossack soldiers were killed with the victorious cannon.

Dozens of large and medium-sized Yaksa warships coming from Shuiying in Heilongjiang City also damaged several Tsarist Russian warships, killing and wounding hundreds of enemy troops.However, due to the long-term use of the mother and child cannons on the ship, some of them exploded within a few shots, and some were unable to fight anymore because the cannons were overheated.

The Qing court set up a naval battalion in the General's Mansion in Heilongjiang, which was mainly stationed in three places.Qiqihar, Morgan, Heilongjiang City.The water battalion in Heilongjiang City has ten large Yaksa warships, forty No. 22 Yaksa warships, and ten river boats.These ships were built in Jilin Shipyard in the [-]nd year of Kangxi. According to the regulations of the Ministry of Industry, they need to be overhauled every five years and demolished every ten years.

However, because the border has been peaceful for many years, the combat power of the Heilongjiang City Shuiying has dropped drastically.The battalion officer was just instructing the sailors to practice punting, and he didn't care about the firing of guns on the boat, it was all the business of the Shotgun Battalion.The Ministry of War requires the water battalion to hold exercises ten days before the first frost every year, but in recent years, the water battalion has always used the frozen river as an excuse to not conduct drills at all.

Compared with the water battalion of the Qing army, the 12-pound guns on the Tsarist Russian warships fired quickly and accurately. At the same time, under the support of incendiary bombs and shotgun shells, the water battalion of the Qing army suffered heavy losses. In one day, they lost four large Yaksa warships, medium-sized Yaksa There are more than 20 warships.

In the afternoon, the Cossack cavalry faced the deserted villages and even filled the wells, and burned down several villages outside the old city of Aihui.In the raging fire, the ignited wood made crackling noises, and dozens of thick black smoke columns rose in the field. The soldiers and civilians guarding Heilongjiang City and Aihui Old City could only watch helplessly and speculate independently. with his own unknown destiny.

In such a battle that was about to be lost, a red flag appeared on the river south of Heilongjiang City, and the fleet of the Northern Navy finally arrived.

(End of this chapter)